December 31, 2012

Witten finishes a record year, but says it's all 'an empty feeling in your stomach'

Jason Witten finished a record-setting year. But the Cowboys’
tight end, one of the most vocal players on the team – who said this week, “It
can’t be the same old thing,” for the Cowboys – admitted there was nothing more
to say.

“It’s really nothing you can say at this point,” he said after
the Cowboys’ loss to the Redskins. “Obviously, it’s disappointing. I will give
them credit. I feel like we had a good game plan coming in; they just
out-played us.

“I said earlier in the week it’s about execution. It’s not about
emotion or any of that other stuff. They out-executed us and deserved to win.
It’s a tough one to swallow right now.”

Witten
spoke at his locker in his uniform. He hadn’t even taken his shoulder pads off.

“It’s an empty feeling in your stomach,” he said. “Obviously, you
can’t describe it. You feel like you’re right there, and you can’t seem to get
over the hump. It’s going to take more. we have good players, but it is going
to take more, playing better and finding a way to finish those games. It’s a
tough league and a bottom-line business. We just have to find a little bit more
to get out there, execute and find ways to win those games.

“It’s a tough feeling right now, obviously.”

Witten
wound up with 110 catches this season, a record for NFL tight ends, and second
all-time in Cowboys history to Michael Irvin’s 111 in 1995.

He also finished with his fourth 1,000-yard season, totaling
1,039.

He also topped 800 catches for his career. He did it in 159
games, faster than the previous two tight ends to reach that mark – Tony Gonzalez
in 171 games and Shannon Sharpe in 202.